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Happy Fourth of July!The last few days have had their share of disappointments and joys. I'll start with some brownies I made from a recipe I had saved from Joy the Baker for S'mores Brownies. Mine looked just like those photos and they sounded soooo good. But when I tasted them, I was disappointed. They were kind of dry. I think the crumbled graham crackers in the batter were the culprit. So, I gave a bunch of them to Kate to give to her coworkers today.

The joy in yesterday was seeing Emily make it down for the fireworks. She said she wanted to come down but I was afraid the trip would be too much for her. It was such a normal thing to do, watching fireworks together (along with her friends who knew right where to find us, we're always in the same spot!). We haven't had a lot of normal in a while and it felt good. The fireworks were wonderful and we oooh'd and aaaah'd and enjoyed them tremendously. We had planned to go to the lake today. We loaded the car and after a detour around Berlin (where they were having their town parade) we made it to the lake at 10:08 only to be told that it was full to capacity and we couldn't get in. We were surprised because we had just driven by and could see that there weren't many people there. We left early this morning because we knew it would be crowded. The weather was gorgeous and it's a holiday. Disappointment! Kate suggested we drive through the woods on the way home so we did. None of us were dressed for a trip through the woods. Bathing suits and flip flops are not the way to walk through the pine brush so we stayed in the car and just enjoyed the scenery. After all the rain, it was green as far as the eye could see. Beautiful and peaceful.

One of the joys of living in the Garden State is the farmers' markets on the way home from the lake. We got some lucious raspberries, some beautiful blueberries, some cantaloupe, some tomatoes, sweet corn and some peaches. The peaches smell good but are not nearly ripe so I put t

hem in a brown paper bag (which helps them to ripen) and in a few days, they'll be perfect. I made a fruit salad out of the berries with some watermelon and some strawberries and it was delicious. Tasted just like summer. We had the corn and some chicken (marinated with lemon, lemon thyme, garlic, olive oil and salt) on the grill and some tomatoes with mozzarella for a light, delicious fourth of July meal.

As I sit here, I can hear fireworks in other towns going off. Philadelphia has a huge fireworks display but it's so crowded that we avoid it. Just the thought of all those people makes me nervous. I'm content with our town's more modest offering.

I finished some baby socks for my coworker. As usual, the smallness of them makes them cute. I'm working on a matching hat. I'm kind of winging it so we'll see how it goes. It was a peaceful day. The weather was just about perfect and we have a whole 'nother day tomorrow. Talk about lucky. Pk and I are going to the local flea market in the morning and then home for blueberry pancakes. Who could ask for better than that?

"The lake was full." How do "they" determine that? And who are "they?" Still, it does minimize frustrations if you don't have to schlepp your stuff allll around, looking for a spot to light, and finally, finally, sweaty and disappointed, have to schlep it all back to the car and drive away. This way, you may be disappointed, but at least you don't stink.

It was a beautiful sunny day here, too, but no way would I try the beach on the 4th. I don't think it would have been to capacity, but with little kids, I don't like to deal with the crowds. Too far to walk, too hard to keep an eye on them...

bummer it was "full" though. I'm glad other parts of the weekend were good!

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